L.A. Controller Won’t Approve Flight Payment

City Controller Rick Tuttle refused Thursday to approve payment of a $2,800 bill for a charter jet flight to Sacramento by the Department of Water and Power’s general manager, Norm Nichols.

“For $2,800, you could fly around the world and have money left over,” Tuttle said. “This is unquestionably the worst extravagance (in government) I’ve ever seen.”

Tuttle, who as controller approves virtually all city expenditures, also alleged that Nichols sought to mislead him about the need to charter a jet in April by claiming it was to attend an urgent meeting.

“There is a serious question in my mind about the truthfulness” of Nichols’ representations, said Tuttle, who has squared off previously with the DWP chief over expense account charges. “I was astounded by the cavalier response from Mr. Nichols and the (DWP) commission. The response to my inquiry was that the situation was ‘urgent’ and the cost ‘a necessary expense incurred in conducting the business of the Department of Water and Power.’ ”

But Tuttle said California Department of Energy officials told him that the meeting with Nichols was informational, routine and had been scheduled three weeks in advance.

Nichols defended his decision to take the charter: “The issues . . . discussed were in fact, and remain in fact, urgent industry issues.”

Rick Caruso, president of the DWP board of commissioners, which approved the flight after the fact, said Thursday: “We looked at all the issues and in the end it was clear in our opinion that (the flight) was justified and legal.”

Caruso charged that Tuttle was using the issue to seek publicity. “Rick Tuttle likes taking advantage of issues to get press,” he told reporters. “You are all playing into his hands.”

Tuttle said he was making the issue public because it has a “deterrent effect” on government waste.

Caruso and Nichols said they will take their case to the City Council, which decides contested expenditures. Tuttle has urged the council to deny the request for payment.